Device for collating tissue paper garment patterns from stacks



y 7, 1953 A. e. LUISADA 2,644,6 7

DEVICE FOR COLLATING TISSUE PAPER GARMENT PATTERNS FROM STACKS Filed June 19. 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

AUGUST 6. 40/5/4014.

LUISA DA LLATING TISSUE PAPER July 7,1953

- A. G. DEVICE FOR C0 GARMENT PATTERNS FROM STACKS Filed June 19, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNE 7f Jul 7, 1953 A. e. LUISADA ,6 7 DEVICE FOR COLLATING TISSUE PAPER 4 GARMENT PATTERNS FROM STACKS ,Filed June 19, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheers ggm I N 4061/57 a 10/559 0? Raw/7V7 I July 7, 1953 A G u s p 2,644,687

DEVICE FOR COILLATIN'G TISSUE PAPER GARMENT PATTERNS FROM STACKS Fi led June 19, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheep 4 INVENTOR." 6 1406057 6. LUIS/IDA.

ATTORNEX Patented July 7, 1953 DEVICE FOR COLLATING TISSUE PAPER GARMENT PATTERNS FROM STACKS August G. Luisada, New York, N. Y., assignor to AdvancePattern Co., Inc., New York, N. Y., a

corporation of New York applicationuuneia 1950, Serial No. 169,045

This invention relates. to: a machine for picking, tissue paper garment patterns. oneby one from stacks of about 1,000 patterns, collating oneleach of the patterns required to' make one arment and folding such any assembledi group.

The principal object ofthe invention is to provide a novel and relatively. simple machine for picking single sheets, and only single sheets, of. tissue paper from each ofa; number of stacks without missing a sheet, collating this number of tissue paper sheets'of various sizes and shapes intov a group,,in a simple and effective way,,and making a first folding operation of'the assem bled group.

Once this operation isaccomplished, thedifilculties which were. heretofore encountered; of handling tissue paper sheets ofendless, Variable sizes and shapes, are overcome, because a, fold of a standard size and more; substantial weight can be folded again on presently known folding machines,,to the size offthe. envelope-inwhich it may be placed by known mechanical'means.

Further objects are to provide a machine which can be easilyloaded desp te edive s y ofthepatterns and inwhich no delicate adjustments are requiredto, change over from one to. another setv of patterns. which can,. therefore, be run by unspecialized hands, andwhichproduces faultless assemblies.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic sectional view of the machine. 1

Fig. 2 is an end'view of. the. collating mechanlsm as viewed from theright ofFi'g... 1. along line 2-2.

Fig. 3'is a top plan viewof.thepatterncarriage plates.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of thecollating members, drawn to. an. enlareedlscale. partsbeing broken away for. clarity.

Fig. 4a is. a view offadetail, partly shown. in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 is a top planview of the plcking.mech anism, the top plate being removedto show the interior. Y

Fig. 6 is a side view of the. pickihgmechanism.

Fig. 6a is a side view of. the front. holding member, partly shown inFig. 6,' removed.,from the. assembly to show the shape more clearly.

Fig. 6b is a side view ofthe moving member removed from the assembly to-show the-shape more clearly; spring and cam. collaborating with the moving memberv are also shown.

Fig; 6c is a" sideview of. the rear holding member removed from the assembly toshow theshape' more clearly.

1 Claim. (o1. 270. 5s)

successively upperplates.

Fig. 6d is a fragmentary view'of a paper stack as shown in Fig. 6, showing the holding and moving members in the position of separating the top' sheet of a pattern stack. I

Fig. 7 is a partial sectional view of the slide and roller wings as indicated in Fig. 8 by the broken line 1-1.

Fig. 8 is'a sectional view of the rolling and folding device.

Fig. 9- is a sectional view similar to Fig. 8, but showing amodification of the rolling and folding device.

The machine as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, consists of a framel which supports the shafts 3 and 4, which in turn support the sprockets 5; 6, lfand '8, and the chains l0. Shaft 3 may be driven by the motor ll. Rods l2 connecting the chains are rotatably assembled to the chains by the eyes I3- (Fig. 4) and are spaced at equal distances in two symmetrical groups of seven each so that the centrifugal force of one group is balanced bythe force of the other groupi Under this chain assembly, a group of sixteen cams I4 extend parallelly along the chains and are fastened to the frame at both ends.

Under the cams l4, one of two pattern car'- riages 2 may be removably inserted into the frame. This arrangement allows one pattern carriage to be reloaded while the pattern stacks 28 (Figs. 4 and 5) of the other carriage are be.- ing picked in the machine. The pattern carriage supports six plates Zl-ZB in spaced apart relation, staggered to the rear. On the five lower plates, pattern stacks may be disposed. The pattern stacks 28 (Figs. 4, 5 and 6) are disposed in such a way on the plates that preferably a corner of each stack covers the portion I! on each plate, and the-portion l1 forms a definite-pattern as shown in Fig. 3. These portions are marked clearly on the plates to facilitate reloading theplates when removed from the machine. The pattern stacks are placed lengthwise on these plates so that the center of gravity of each pattern is-roughly in line with the re-' spective portion ll. Preferably the longest patterns' will be disposed on the longest or lowest plate, and successively shorter patterns on'the Each of'the plates-2 l to 2.6- has slots 21 over the portion I! of the lower plates; and: their: forward. ends are bent down along the lines I9 to lie in a single plane parallel tothe-cams 14-, leaving a mouth 29. be? tween each pair of adjacent plates.

Th eneral path of the p t rn hrou h the machineiswthe following: Th pattern stacks-.28

i Picking mechanisms 32 (Figs. 5 and 6) are placed and clamped adjacent each stack 28 to separate the top sheet of pattern from the rest the stack and to hold the stack in place. Carrying members 33 are carried by the rods l2 and lowered on each of the stacks through the slot 2? on the portions IT to slide the top pattern down each stack to the supporting plate through the mouth 29 between the plates whereby the patterns are collated. The collated assembly of patterns is carried further by the group of carrying. member 33 on to the conveyor iii, moving in the same direction as the carrying members. The conveyor 38 overlies and cooperates with conveyor 31. The assemblies are then introduced by said conveyors into the rollforming mechanism which rolls up each assembly to form a roll, flattens the roll to form a fiat fold which is then deposited on the table 42 from which it may be fed to a conventional folding machine.

The picking mechanism 32 consists of a base plate 5| (Figs. 5, 6, 6a, 6b, which has a cutout 52. This base plate is provided with a clamping arrangement (not shown) to be secured to the plate 2| to 25, on which it rests, but to be easily shiftable to another spot on the plate when a pattern stack of a different shape is to be picked, and such shifting is required. The base plate 51 and the body 54 are connected by two end to form the front holding member 58; an-

other pair of arms connected at their front ends forming the rear holding member 59 (Fig. 6a). The arms of the moving member 60 (Fig. 6b) are pivoted to the upper pins 51 and movable with the reciprocating member 55. Their extension 6| is placed to engage the cam 62 and. the spring 63. The reciprocating member can be moved by the flexible shaft 64 which connects it to two solenoids or other motive device (not shown), one pulling, one pushing, located at the rear of each plate 2l-25.

When the machine is loaded, the body 56 of the picking mechanism is raised manually and one of the holding members is placed to rest upon the new pattern stack so that the rear holding members 59 are in a position adjacent a border of the stack 28. They areinraised position when the pins 57 are at the rear end of their stroke as indicated by the broken line 65' of Figs. 6a-6c. The arms of the front and rear holding members are shaped as cams, having straight portions, keeping them in position and angular cam surfaces 66 and 67 to raise or lower them when the pins 51 pass along these portions. The tip 'of the moving member 60 is provided with a cushion 68 of elastomer which has a high coemcient of friction against paper. Preferably, the pressure exerted against the top sheet should be about 1 oz. per square inch of contact surface. The holding members 58 and 59 may be provided with similar cushions 68. Upon reaching the rear end of its stroke, the extension 6| of the member 60 bypasses the spring 53 on which it was sliding, and the cushion 68 of, the member 60 is allowed to drop onto the top sheet. Upon forward mov ment of the reciprocating member 55 the moving member will cause the top pattern to crimp against the front holding member 58 (see Fig. 602) which is supporting the weight of the body 5 3 on the stack until a sufficient space is freed by the top sheet, at which time the pins 51 reach the cam surface 6'! of therearrholding member 59 causing it to be lowered on the second sheet to support part of the weight of the body as on the second sheet whereupon the pins 57 reach the cam surface 66 of the front holding member 5%, raising it and freeing the top sheet as extension 6| hits the cam 62 deflecting the spring 63 in passing, raising the member 66 from the top sheet which is now ready to be removed by the carrying member 35 tobe collated, while the rear holding member holds'the second sheet in position to prevent the pack from being disturbed by the impact of the carrying member 33. electric contact (not shown) causes the pull solenoid to be energized to move the reciprocating member to the rear at the time whena group of carrying members hasvpa-ssed. The extension 6| is sliding from the straight' portion of the cam to the spring which supports the tip of the moving member to keep it clear of the top sheet while the front member is lowered, and the rear member raised, whereupon the moving member is dropped on the top sheet'when 6| passes the end of the spring 63. The push solenoids may be energized by another contact on the chain or uponth'e pull solenoid reaching the end of its stroke. p

The collating mechanism (Fig. 4) includes carrying members 33,,two groups of which are supported by the two groups'of rods l2. Each, of thesegroups comprises seven rods, the first and lastv of each group "serving for auxiliary purposes while. the central fiverods support the carrying members which do the collating by carrying each one pattern from the, .top of each stack,'r,eaching ejajch'through one slot 21 to touch one portion. H to carry one pattern through the mouth 29 to form the; assembly on the plane formed by the forward ends of the plates 2 i to 25. These central five rods ofeach group support the carrying members corresponding to the five plates and are arranged in the same general pattern as the portions I! arearranged on the five sheets, an example of such a pattern being shown on Fig. 3, in which lfi'stacks are shown to be arranged on five plates, in which the distances between anytwo adjacent stacks areequal. This distance may be chosen to be" superior to the average width of all the patterns to be handled by the machine. The lowest plate 2] has three areas Hand three. carrying members are to be carried by the first rod, arranged to align with said three areas. The second plate 22 has four areas I! to which the four carrying'mer'nbers on the second rod are aligned, etc. 'Each carrying member of one group has a path for itself, not occupied by any othercarrying member and a cam Hi to extend along said path to guide it to touch the respectivearea I! to take and carry the top sheet of said pattern stack after it has been separated from the second sheetand the second sheet is positively prevented from being carried with it by the holding member 59 of the respective picking mechanism. r

Each of the five rods 12 supporting carrying members 33' is linked to the preceding rod 12 by a link 72 which has a slot 73 engaged by the pr ding rod, t0 p vent itjrrom' turning freely,

Toeach of said rods, supports 15 are fastened to Support the carrying members 33, by the pins 16 ae is-cs7 in its own path adjacent its cam I I. The pin 11 on the support I5 supports the hook member I8, having a pin I9. This pin is arranged to slide along the top of the camI I and to engage the cam groove 80 upon reaching its entrance 8I. The hook member I8 has a hook 83 disposed to engage the succeeding rod -I-2- when the pin I9 is moved upward by the endof thegroove 80 at 04 to slide on the top of the cam I4. The movementof'the two preceding rods I 2, around sprockets "I, 8, will cause the hook inthis position, shown in broken lines 83 to'be engaged by a'rod 12 when, the preceding rods I2 have reached the sprocket 3, and then to be lifted from the cam.

Upon reaching the straight'portion of travel from sprockets I, 8'to sprockets 5, 6, the hookwill disengage but rest by its weight on'rod I2; to engage it again upon reaching sprockets 5, 6 to be unlocked after passing these to allow the pin 19 to slide on cam I4, and engage groove 80 at 8I. The hook member I3 has also a restraining loop 86 to engage the cam guide 81 secured to the carrying member 33. The carrying member has a tip 90 made preferably from elastomeric material which has an extension in a forward direction and one to its rear which has the purposes of providing high friction, cushioning the shock upon reaching the top sheet of the stack 28, decreasing the relative pressure on the paper by increasing the supporting area, and preventing the loss of the sheet when sliding down the stack by producing traction on the sheet against the edge of the stack until the forwardly directed extension takes over by a heel and toe action by producing traction on the sheet, reaching the plate 22 as shown in broken lines 33" and 30". The carrying member is urged by the coil spring 93 to produce pressure on the carried sheet, the other end of which spring may be fastened to the preceding rod I2 by the arm 94. When the pin I9 is on top of the cam I4, the member 33 is lifted by the loop 86 and the guide 81 away from the bent extensions of the plates 2I to 26, but the incline BI allows the pin to enter groove 80 so that the tip 93 can engage the top sheet at area I! through the slots 21, and slide it out of mouth 29, collating it with the other sheets to carry the assembly on the conveyor 31 at which place groove 80 ends in the incline 84 to cause the hook member I8 to assume position I8 and lift the carrying member 33 to position 33 in which position it remains while travelling around both sprockets until the pin I9 is again deposited on the top of cam I4. The action of each member of one group may be alternated by the action of the corresponding member of the other group which is arranged in the same way as can be understood, so that each complete revolution of the chain assembly produces two assemblies of collated patterns.

When the collated assembly emerges from between the conveyors 31 and 38, the variously shaped points of the patterns continue to travel on conveyor 31 until they hit roller 98 (Fig. 8), which deflects them upwards and has preferably a circumferential speed superior to the speed of the conveyor. The forward ends are further defiected by contact with roller 99 and with the inside surface of the exit gate I00, supported by the shaft members I02 rotatably supported by the frame I.

The shaft I04 is also rotatable in the frame and supports the slide wing I 05, the lower portion of which has a roughly cylindrical shape to complete the cylinder to be formed by the patterns.

This wing has slots IIIIiatoallow: discs: toreach through it; The shaft I04 has-an arm itfllsu'pporting cam followers I08 to: cooperate with .the cam I09ronthe cam shaft-I I0? (Figs. 'I'and 8:9,. This cam. shaft is arranged to be driven by'the sprocket I I' I from-the shaft 3. in" a :ratio to sm'ake two' complete-revolutions for eachcompleterevolution of the chains 9. The shaft member I04 rota-tably supports'a pair of plates IN -forming the roller wing supporting a cam followerto cooperate with cam H5 and shafts" II 6, III; -I-I8 on which discs I I9 are supported in-spaced apart relation'tofit in the slots I06 of the slide'wing I05. '-These shafts arealso driven to"ha-ve' the same circumferential speed as 98 and 98*. One shaft member 'I 02is linked to a cam follower cooperating with cam I23- onshaft I -III; :Behind the exit member I00, the shafts having rollers I 24 and I25 are arranged and may be driven in opposite directions at a preferably slower speed and behind them the rollers I26 and I2'I may be driven at speeds identical to those of I24 and I25.

The discs II9 on shafts H6, H1, and H8 further deflect the forward ends of the patterns and q in cooperation with the tops of the slide wing I 05,

lead them back to form a complete cylinder or roll. As the roll continues to rotate and further layers of pattern sheets are added, its outer diameter increases. To allow for this increase, the cams I09 and I I5 move the slide wing I05, and the roller wing I I4 to a position indicated by broken lines I05, which is reached when the rolling-up is completed. Cam I09 then starts to move the slide wing forward to position I05" while cam I23 moves the exit gate I00 to the position I00 shown in' broken lines. Both movements add to brake the upper and right portion of the roll and to put pressure on it, which, together with the rotating rollers 98 and 99 and the conveyor 31, causes the roll to bulge at the place formerly occupied by the exit gate I00, to be pressed against the rollers I24 and I25 which start to pull the roll between them, transformingit to a fold. In order to allow the air within the roller more time to escape, the rollers are preferably not quite adjacent. The fold is then completed by the adjacent rollers I26 and I 27 which deliver thefold' to the table 42.

A modification of this folding mechanism is shown in Fig. 9. In sequence to the rollers 98 and 99, the shafts I30 and I3I are arrangedto support discs I I9 in spaced apart relation. The exit wing I 32 has slots to allow these discs to pass and is secured to the shaft segment I33 rotatably supported by the frame at I34 and movable by the cam I23 to assume the position I23 when the rolling-up is completed, allowing the roll to be pressed against the discs on I3I which flatten the roll in cooperation with the discs on I30 and transport it to be engaged by the rolls I26 and I 21, finishing the fold.

I claim:

In a collating machinewherein a number of sheets are to be collated, superimposed plates arranged in spaced apart relation to support said sheets, said plates having their front ends staggered in one direction, means to support said sheets to allow a mouth transverse to said direction to remain between each pair of adjacent plates so arranged that sheets from all plates can be moved in said direction through these transverse mouths, said sheets being disposed on their respective plates rearward of the front edge thereof; groups of carrying members at least one group for each plate, moving means to move in said direction, and support said carrying members in groups, each carrying member of one group having a definite position within its group and all groups begin similar, each carrying member of one group moving along a path to pass over an area of contact of each said carrying member with one of said sheets; longitudinal slots along saidpaths arranged in said plates over each said contact area to extend in said direction of movement to said transverse mouths, the slots in each. plate being out of line with those in every other plate means arranged along said path to cause an additional motion of each carrying member to contact a 7 sheet on said contact area through said longitudinal slots, spring means on said moving means to urge said carrying members to contact said sheets through said slots and to apply pressure on them to convey them through said transverse mouths to assemble them, said definite relation between said carrying members of each group being similar to the relation of said contact areas on the plates.

AUGUST G. LUISADA.

Leifer Nov. 13, 1945 

